In The Aftermath
by Illeana Starbright
Summary: Leonara Ellis and John Winchester are dead, the yellow-eyed demon is missing along with the Colt, and a demon is silently stalking Kiran's every step. Bent on revenge for their losses, the Winchesters and Kiran don't realize that what they should be doing is recovering from the aftermath of the storm. Because something bigger is coming to kill them all. Sequel to A Moment Too Late


_I'm back! Thanks for waiting patiently for this-it took a lot longer than I expected it to. Part of the reason for this is that I'm also publishing a few other Supernatural stories on Archive of Our Own under the name SunlightOnTheWater and finals have kept me busier than I expected. The website has been updated recently (today) and I have added a couple more character picture links in my profile so feel free to check those and I own nothing you recognize!_

* * *

_Sioux Falls, South Dakota_

They weren't dealing. It had been a week since John and Leonara had died and neither Dean nor Kiran was dealing. To be fair Sam wasn't in the best condition but at least he was trying to talk about it. Dean was hiding out in the junkyard working on bringing the Impala back to life and Kiran was running herself to the ground with every kind of training she could think of. Sam was left in the middle of the two of them wondering if there was even a point to him being here. His fingers drifted to his pocket, brushing against the carefully folded letter Leonara had left him. He'd read it near a hundred times by now but he was fairly certain neither Kiran nor Dean had opened theirs. He sighed and headed outside to find Dean. "How's the car coming along?" he called

"Slow," came the response.

"Need any help?" he couldn't help asking.

"What, you under a hood? I'll pass," Dean replied.

"Need anything else then?" Dean sighed and slid out from under the car, meeting Sam's eyes.

"Stop it Sam," he said as he stood and Sam flinched slightly, turning immediately to leave. He couldn't do this. Couldn't try to talk to Kiran or Dean about this when they just rebuffed him at every turn.

"_Sam_," he heard Dean called after him. "I didn't mean it like that." Sam didn't bother to respond. They both knew Dean had meant it like that. Sam stopped at Bobby's front porch, sinking down on the bottom step and tugging Leonara's letter out of his pocket, ignoring the sudden welling of fresh tears in his eyes. He unfolded it carefully, swiping a hand across his face to clear the tears so he could see properly, and began to read again.

_Dearest Sam,_

_This is the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life. Saying farewell to you is like saying goodbye to life itself. I love you Sam; love you more than I probably should. You were going to be it for me; the last boy I ever dated. I didn't think that would mean death though. I should have guessed it did. You see, I gave up years of my own life that night so that Savannah could save Kiran. Maybe that was a stupid thing to do but we all have mile wide blind spots when it comes to our families. _

_I have to be honest, I never expected to go like this. I pictured the typical death, drifting away in my sleep, or the extremely painful one that comes from being a hunter. I didn't expect lying in a hospital bed listening to my heartbeat and waiting for my time to run out. The doctors told me I've been dying for four years; my heart slowly weakening and running out of beats. They didn't have any explanation for that but I don't really need one. I gave up those heartbeats to save my twin and I'm not going to regret that, not for a moment. I will regret leaving you all behind but I don't regret saving Kiran._

_I have my own theory for why my time is running out. I spent a lot of my energy helping your father break free from the Yellow Eyed Demon's clutches. Adding that with my heart slowly dying and the strain of the car crash my heart had to work a lot harder than normal and, as a result, my time is running out. Right now you're spitting your time four ways, Kiran is trying not to hover, Dean is hanging on by a thread, and your dad is back on the obsession track with the demon. That leaves me with time to write before I move on and I intend to use it. _

_The time right after I go will be hard, especially since no matter how this turns out you'll probably be losing two people you care about. I can't say anything more than that, Kiran's swore me to secrecy, but I promise you you'll survive. I love you more than you'll probably ever know. Hang in there._

_Leonara_

By the time he finished reading the note it felt as if a fist had lodged in his chest, squeezing his heart. He took in a deep breath and then let it out in a slow, shuddering sigh. His heartbeat slowly calmed from its pained race to a more normal one. "Are you okay?" He looked up to see Kiran standing in the doorway, her eyes red.

"Yeah," he said tiredly and Kiran slipped out of the shadows to join him on the bottom step, shoving hands in the pockets of her bulky sweatshirt.

"Is yeah some kind of code for '_I'm totally not okay but I don't want to talk about it_' because if so then I'm the same." Sam felt his face quirk up in a halfhearted smile and Kiran laughed, a sound that was more like a sob than actual laughter. "I haven't opened the letter yet," Kiran admitted. "Too afraid too. I'm not sure I want to know what was so important that she had to write it down. That kind of news is never good in my experience."

"Mine either," Sam admitted.

"You two idjits gonna just sit outside here or are you gonna come in?" Bobby asked impatiently. The two of them laughed, a little more seriously this time, and then stood, scrambling back indoors.

"What is it?" Kiran asked, her tone almost puppy dog eager despite the sad eyes.

"Ellen Harvelle, a friend of mine and an acquaintance of John's, called. She has a case but not time to work it and she was wondering if I had anyone up for it," Bobby explained. "You three up for it?"

"I'll ask Dean," Kiran said, already scrambling out of the room like it was too small for her. Sam watched her go, wondering if the sudden need for a hunt was a very real need for a distraction from her sister's death or if it had always been there. Moments later Dean was entering the kitchen asking about the case and how exactly they were supposed to get to Nebraska without a car. Sam allowed himself to be pulled into the debate, forgetting about his private misery for the time being.

* * *

"This is humiliating," Dean muttered as he pulled into the parking lot of the Harvelle Roadhouse. "I feel like a friggin soccer mom." He was rewarded for his complaints with a giggle from Kiran and an eye roll from Sam.

"Come on," Kiran mumbled, climbing out of the car. "Let's go meet Ellen Harvelle." She headed for the building, the boys right on her heels, and carefully pushed open the door. The inside of the Roadhouse was dark but well kept; the kind of place that was real busy around evening. "Ellen?" she called into the darkened interior. "Ellen Harvelle?" No answer. Kiran frowned and moved further into the Roadhouse, Sam and Dean spreading out behind her as they searched the building. Kiran headed for the very back. Savannah had worked in bars in a few towns they'd lived in and had stated that if you couldn't find anyone around you always tried the back.

As it happened, Savannah's advice turned out to be a little too good. Kiran found herself holding her hands carefully above her head and backing away from a brown haired woman in her early forties with a pistol. "Dean? Sam?" she called as she backed into the main room, relieved to feel a warm hand land steadily on her shoulder.

"Sam? Dean?" the woman asked, glancing over Kiran's shoulder. "Winchester?"

"Yeah," they replied in unison.

"Bobby sent us," Sam added from somewhere behind Kiran and to the left.

"Son of a bitch," the woman muttered and lowered the gun. "I'm sorry. I'm Ellen Harvelle. This is my daughter Jo." Kiran turned to see a blonde girl slowly lowering a shot gun.

"Hi," she said and Kiran grinned at her. She ducked out of Dean's grip, tilting her head slightly at Jo before leaving the boys to sort everything out.

"Your mom's a scary lady," she informed the other blonde as she approached and Jo's grin widened.

"That she is. I'm Jo," the girl replied offering Kiran her hand.

"Kiran Ellis. It's nice to meet you."

"Nice ta meet you too," Jo chirped. "You with him? The short one I mean?"

"That obvious?" Kiran questioned with a rueful grin, aware that her cheeks were flushing.

"You should've seen his face when mom came out holding you at gunpoint," Jo said with a giggle and Kiran laughed too. A man who'd been sleeping on the bar suddenly jerked awake with a wild flail, making Kiran jump. "That's Ash. He doesn't look like it but he's really a genius."

"He needs a haircut," Kiran commented dryly, smirking, and Jo giggled again. "So what's the hunt your mom called Bobby about?"

"Believe it or not, a killer clown," Jo said and started laughing when Kiran pulled a face.

"Clowns," she muttered. "Oh the joy. I'll never be able to look at Ronald McDonald the same way again after this one." Jo only laughed harder and Kiran gave in, letting a rueful grin cross her face. Jo wasn't Leonara, not by a long shot, but talking to the other girl helped ease some of the pain her sister's death had left behind. Just not enough to read the letter.

* * *

"You've got to be kidding me," Dean muttered as he drove down the road. "A killer clown?" Kiran snorted from the backseat and gave him a tired smirk when he glanced at her in the mirror.

"Yeah," Sam said. "He left the daughter unharmed and killed the parents. Ripped them to pieces, actually."

"And the family was at some carnival that night?"

"Right. The Cooper Carnivals."

"So how do you know we're not dealing with some psycho carnie in a clown suit?" Dean asked and heard Kiran scoff.

"You been reading Stephen King or something Dean?" she asked. "Most psychos don't get their kicks from killing in clown suits."

"Like you would know," he shot back and he could almost hear the eye roll that comment brought on.

"Guys, focus," Sam said, sounding exasperated and tired but fond. "The girl says she saw it vanish into thin air. The cops think it's the trauma, of course, but it could be something supernatural."

"Well I know what you're thinking Sam," Dean teased. "Why did it have to be clowns?"

"Oh give me a break," Sam muttered, sinking low in the seat, and Dean laughed.

"You didn't think I'd remember, did you? I mean, come on, you still bust out crying whenever you see Ronald McDonald on the television."

"Well at least I'm not afraid of flying," Sam shot back.

"Planes crash!" Dean growled.

"And apparently clowns kill!"

"Are you two kiddies going to do this all the way there?" Kiran asked. "Because if you are pull over first and I'll walk to this carnival." Dean laughed but obligingly turned the rest of the conversation on the drive over to business.

* * *

Kiran didn't like carnivals. They had always seemed to be waiting to snatch her up. As a child she'd decided she belonged in a freak show because at times she'd turned part of her body invisible and been unable to turn them back visible for hours. That had ruined carnivals for her forever. Leonara would have been ribbing her mercilessly as she wandered around the place. Two more people had died the night before, once again killed by a vanishing clown, and Sam and Dean had gotten hired on. Kiran was just wandering around looking for any sign of anything suspicious.

Her feet aching, she sighed and sank down on a picnic table. Lee's letter crumbled in her pocket and she sighed again, pulling it out to stare at the folded envelope. Then she sighed and shoved it back in her pocket as her phone began to ring. She pulled it out of her pocket and snapped it open, lifting it to her ear. "Yeah?"

"Some little girl just saw our killer clown," Sam told her. "Blonde pigtails, pink jacket, harried looking dark haired mother."

Kiran scanned the crowd and then smiled. "I see them. You want me to follow?"

"Yeah. See if you can get a name."

"On it." Kiran hung up her phone and wandered in the direction of the little girl and her mother. When she was close enough, she slipped and tumbled into the woman. They both almost went down, the little girl giggling at their comical expressions. "I am so sorry," Kiran apologized, scrambling to her feet. "Terrible sorry. I'm just an awful klutz today." She offered and hand and the woman took it with a tired smile.

"It isn't your fault dear. It's just one of those days," the woman said and Kiran gave her a genuinely embarrassed smile. She hated duping people in this sort of way and it was even worse when they were kind. It wasn't as if she was stealing anything from them but it always felt as if she had.

"I'm Kiran Ellis," she introduced.

"Patty Lewis," the woman returned. "This is my daughter, Lauren."

"Are you enjoying the carnival Lauren?" Kiran asked and the girl bobbed her head with a smile.

"I really am sorry about this," Kiran apologized as her cell chimed in her pocket. "It was nice to meet you Patty, Lauren."

"It was nice to meet you too," Patty said with a smile, taking Lauren's hand and heading off into the crowd.

* * *

_Her sister was laughing, blonde hair tossed in a waterfall over her shoulder. Sam was next to her talking about something and smiling like he was the luckiest guy in the world. Kiran watched them from across the bar, phone pressed to her ear and ringing repeatedly. It was time for the Ellis sister's bi-weekly check in with their cousins and Kiran had agreed to call because they were two days late. If Lee called she'd get Maddy and a twenty minute rant about how worried the girls had been. If Kiran called she'd either get Salem who could care less provided that they were both alive or if she did happen to get Maddy she wouldn't get a rant because Maddy knew that Kiran didn't care. _

_It was nice to see her sister so happy and free. Savannah's death had seemed to weigh hard on Leonara's shoulders and Kiran had missed the carefree smile that often graced her twin's face. "Hello?" Salem's sleepy voice drew Kiran out of her thoughts.  
_

_"Hey Salem," she said back, leaning a hip against the wall and watching as Sam leaned forward to kiss her sister. "What's up?"_

_"Gas prices," Salem suggested wryly. "You're both okay then."_

_"Absolutely fine," Kiran drawled back with a chuckle._

_"And you're calling so Lee-lee can avoid the Madeline worry show," Salem finished for her. "As usual."_

_"Yup." Kiran popped the p and then felt her breath catch as Sam turned to look at her. His eyes were bile yellow. The room swirled around her, becoming a basement again, and the demon was sneering at her with Sam's face. A hand was shaking her shoulder, a voice mumbling in her ear, but she was caught staring in those yellow eyes. Almost forgetting to breathe._

* * *

Kiran plunged out of the nightmare with a gasp, sucking in as much fresh air as she could. Tears were dripping down her face and she flinched as a shotgun blast echoed from the house they'd been watching. Kiran mumbled a prayer under her breath that Patty Lewis and her daughter Lauren and her nameless husband were safe as she shivered violently in the backseat of the van, eyes fixed on the house. Moments later Dean and Sam came scrambling out and plunged into in, pealing out of the driveway. "We hit something solid," Sam blurted as Dean tore down the street. "So spirits are out."

"So we have an invisible person or something?" Kiran questioned, quickly wiping away the tears and focusing on Sam's eyes which were thankfully hazel. She got a shrug in response.

"We're going to have to ditch the van," Dean cut out, sounding almost pleased by the thought. "They may have seen the plates."

"And you hate it anyway," Kiran drawled. Dean grinned and winked at her in the rearview mirror and she rolled her eyes. "Get some rest. We'll figure things out in the morning." Kiran nodded, curling back up in her seat, but after the recent nightmare she was pretty sure she wasn't going to get any sleep.

* * *

They dumped the van on an old dirt road. Sam and Dean were arguing as Kiran trudged purposefully behind them, exhausted and not at all in the mood to listen to Dean snap. The road blurred with heat in front of her and suddenly she stumbled as Sam and Dean vanished. In their place stood Karayan in all her glory. She had changed Laura's style slightly, the curly hair gone straight and a set of straight bangs across her face. She was dressed in a slinky black number with a pair of high heels dangling from one hand, her pantyhose clad feet planted firmly in the dirt. Kiran gasped slightly and the demon grinned. "Hello sweetie."

"You are most definitely not River Song," Kiran informed Karayan and the demon's grin widened. "Why are you here?"

"Just checking on you. Rumor has it that Azazel did a little damage when you and the Winchester boys caught up with him."

"Who?"

"The demon with yellow eyes," Karayan purred.

"He killed my sister," Kiran growled and the demon laughed.

"Your sister is of no consequence to us. What is important is that _you _are still alive and unharmed."

"Emotional trauma counts as unharmed," Kiran hissed and Karayan laughed again.

"Of course it does darling." Then the air shimmered and Karayan was gone. The Winchesters were farther ahead now, Sam chatting with someone on his cell phone as they walked. Kiran stared at them a moment and then glanced back at the place Karayan had been standing. Part of her desperately wanted to shoot her demonic stalker with the Colt but they needed that final bullet for the yellow eyed demon, Azazel if Karayan had been telling the truth. Her fingers drifted toward the letter in her pocket as she picked up her pace, hurrying to catch up with the boys, seeking some sense of comfort. None came.

"Rakshasa," Sam said when she caught up. Kiran mouthed the unfamiliar word, rolling it around in her mind for a moment as she considered what kind of creature it was meant to represent.

"What's that?" Dean asked.

"Ellen's best guess," Sam returned. "It's a race of ancient Hindu creatures. They appear in human form, eat human flesh, can make themselves invisible, and they cannot enter a home without first being invited in."

"So they dress up like clowns and have the children invite them in," Dean finished.

"Yeah."

"Why don't they just munch on the kids?"

"Not enough meat on the bones, maybe?" Sam suggested.

"It could be for the same reason hunters don't shoot baby deer or the females," Kiran said, mind already playing with the new problem and pushing everything Karayan had said to the background. "To keep the stock of prey around." Dean made a disgusted face at that and turned back to Sam.

"What else did you learn?"

"Well apparently Rakshasas live in squalor. They sleep on a bed on dead insects," Sam said, sounding almost as if he were reciting from a textbook.

"Nice," Dean muttered and Kiran gagged.

"Yeah, and they have to feed a few times every twenty or thirty years. Slow metabolism I guess."

"Well that makes sense. I mean, the Carnival today, the Bunker Brothers in '81."

"I will never look at clowns the same again," Kiran muttered, shuddering slightly. Dean grinned and slung a casual arm over her shoulder.

"You and Sammy can start a club then," he drawled and she rolled her eyes, elbowing him playfully in the ribs. "So who do we know that worked both shows?"

"Cooper?" Sam suggested and Dean nodded in agreement. "That picture of his father looked just like him."

"You think maybe it was him?" Dean asked and Sam shrugged. "Ellen say how to kill him?"

"Legend goes a dagger made of pure brass."

"And we're going to get that where?" Kiran asked pointedly.

"I think I know a guy," Dean returned and she groaned.

"I don't even want to know."

"We had better check and make sure it really is Cooper before we go stabbing him," Sam said and Dean smirked.

"Fine. Kaia and I will get the blade, you can see if Cooper has bedbugs."

* * *

Kiran was a silent shadow at Dean's shoulder as they followed the blind man across the carnival grounds. "Well I've got all kinds of knives. I don't know if I've got a brass one thought," the man was saying. Dean slipped his hand back, finding Kiran's and squeezing it lightly. Her palms were cold and dry against his own, her face smooth and emotionless. The man led them into a trailer and said, "Check the trunk." He tapped the aforementioned trunk with his cane and Dean released Kiran's hand to open it. Inside, in plain sight, sat a red clown wig. Dean stood and turned very slowly to stare directly at the man.

"You."

"Me," the blind man confirmed, pulling off his sunglasses. His eyes turned a milky white color and he began to fade from sight. His eyes were the last to vanish. Dean swore and Kiran hissed from beside him.

"I can see you." Her voice was cold and unamused. A knife flew by their heads and Dean jerked her out of the way, trying to rip the door open. The next knife landed squarely in the door so deep he was sure it had come out the other side.

"All right," he yelled, finally flinging the door open and stumbling out into the open air. Kiran didn't follow. Instead he watched in silent horror as an invisible hand pulled a door shut. He scrambled up the steps of the trailer, jerking uselessly on the handle. It didn't budge but something hit the door hard and the entire trailer rocked.

"Hey!" he heard Sam call and turned to see his brother sprinting across the grass. "It isn't Cooper."

"I know," Dean called back. "It's the blind guy. He's shut in there with Kiran." As if the punctuate his words and ear piercing shriek rose up, the hellish kind that meant somebody had gotten knifed. Dean turned to stare at the door only to have it fly open and hit him in the face. He tumbled to the ground, slamming into Sam who helped him up without even glancing at him. Instead the younger Winchester's eyes were fixed on what was in the door.

Kiran Ellis stood there holding a bloody knife. Dean wasn't entirely sure whether it was blonde, gleaming silver, or just a typical blade. With every blink it seemed to change colors and it was almost blazing in her hand. "It's dead," she said, swiping the bloody knife halfheartedly against her jeans. As the blood was wiped away the blade faded to a dull gunmetal grey in her hand and Dean found himself wondering if the door had given him a concussion.

"What kind of knife is that?" he asked in she shrugged.

"Lee and I found it in Laura Field's apartment. Apparently she was a hunter and I went back for this one while we were still in Indy."

"Nice find," he said appreciatively and she grinned.

"I know, right?"

"Come on you too," Sam grumbled. "Enough with the flirting. Let's head back to the Roadhouse, tell Ellen the job's done, and see if Ash has had any luck with dad's tracking system."

* * *

"So how'd it go?" Jo asked as the boys chatted with Ash.

"Pretty good," Kiran told her. "I was right though; I'll never be able to look at a clown the same way again." Jo giggled and Kiran grinned at the other girl's amusement.

"You sticking around after this?" the younger girl wanted to know.

"Probably not," Kiran admitted and Jo looked disappointed. "Hey, give me your phone and I'll program in my number. Then we can talk even if we don't get to see each other for a while." Jo brightened up and handed over her phone. Kiran typed in her number and then handed it back with a smile. A hand came down on her shoulder but she didn't bother to look to see who it was. "Call me," she said and then allowed herself to be steered away out of the Roadhouse.


End file.
